The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Traduzido por: Khrystyna Tsupryk

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

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“It’s the missing puzzle piece, I didn’t know I needed.” — someone on Threads. Honestly, I couldn't have said it better myself.

I’m shattered to bits. Absolutely wrecked. Physically, I’ve got a pounding headache, my face is all swollen, and I can’t regulate my breathing. Emotionally? I wouldn’t even know where to begin with an answer. I genuinely thought I had no more tears left to cry over The Hunger Games saga — but Suzanne Collins had no mercy with Sunrise on the Reaping.

I got my hands on the online English version on Saturday afternoon of release week. I finished it by Sunday night, just before midnight — or rather, it finished me. Four hundred pages of history, new and familiar characters (no spoilers!), a rollercoaster of emotions, and a bittersweet ending.

To all those who criticised Suzanne when she announced this book — all those who said “cash-grab”, “fanservice”, “leave the trilogy as it is”, and the rest — have now been silenced. This is a crucial book in the saga. It’s the missing link between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the original Hunger Games trilogy.

Let me repeat, for those in  the back: THIS BOOK IS ESSENTIAL for anyone who dares to call themselves a fan of this magnificent universe. Suzanne Collins is a genius (and no, I can’t say more — no spoilers, sorry not sorry!).

With the same structure as the trilogy and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but this time with characters who are so much closer to our hearts, the book tells the story of the 50th Hunger Games. It’s written in the first person, through the eyes and thoughts of Katniss and Peeta’s famously drunk mentor — Haymitch Abernathy, who won these Games at just 16 years old.

Twenty-four years before Katniss ever volunteered, Haymitch was a different person. District 12 was a different place. The Capitol was different. The Games were different. But what remained the same — the one constant — was propaganda. And that’s the core theme Suzanne chose to explore in this book.

In Sunrise on the Reaping, Collins dives deep into the theme of propaganda, showing how the Capitol manipulates information to maintain control over Panem. Through Haymitch’s story, she exposes the regime’s tactics to shape public perception and justify the Hunger Games. The book shows how the Capitol rewrites history, weaponises the media to distort reality, turns violence into entertainment, and silences dissent.

This approach underscores how important media literacy is — and how urgently we need to question the narratives that are force-fed to us by those in power. Especially now, in a time when post-truth has become the norm.

Never before has it been this vital to understand that things aren’t just good or bad, black or white, pure or poisonous. We are all birds and snakes at different moments in our lives. And honestly, is there any better time to come to terms with that than during our university years, while our frontal cortex is still developing?

If this ends up being the last book in the saga, I’m fine with that. So many stories were told. So many character arcs were resolved. If Suzanne decides to publish more, then great — may it be another brilliant surprise. She has yet to disappoint us.

I’ll leave you with a small spoiler. The moment I realised I was boarding a train headed straight for heartbreak and emotional ruin — accompanied by the haunting melody of The Hanging Tree, while I will eventually wander through the halls of FLUL, probably stressed about exams and deadlines:

“I’m not a drinker myself …” — Haymitch Abernathy, age 16, within the first pages of Chapter 1 of Sunrise on the Reaping.

Attention! The official Portuguese version of the book is still on pre-sale on various e-commerce platforms; it will be available to purchase starting April 16th, 2025. Have a great reading experience, y’all!